Montgomery, Alabama - The Justice Department awarded $348,813 in grant money to the State of Alabama law enforcement to be used to help combat juvenile crime, announced George L. Beck, Jr., United States Attorney, Middle District of Alabama. The money from this grant is to be used to help juvenile courts, schools and social service agencies identify, control, supervise and treat young people who repeatedly commit serious crimes. The money will also to be used to establish and maintain programs that hold these young offenders accountable for their actions.

Specifically, this grant money will provide accountability based treatment programs for young offenders, establish a program to use graduated penalties in juvenile cases at the local level, and improve the juvenile court computer system so that the court can keep better records on these repeat offenders. This grant will ultimately help reduce the number of repeat juvenile criminal offenders.

“Punishment and treatment of juvenile criminals have to be a priority of law enforcement. When we catch, punish and treat these young offenders, we have the opportunity to turn their lives away from crime. Not only does that benefit the young person, but it benefits our entire community. I am proud that the Department of Justice chose to allocate some of their grant money to the State of Alabama to combat such a crucial problem,” stated, U.S. Attorney Beck.

The direct recipient of the grant is the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, Law Enforcement and Traffic Safety Division.